Glastonbury Retains Its Strong AAA Bond Ratings

GLASTONBURY — — For the 10th consecutive year, the town has secured the top bond rating from both Moody's Investors Services and Standard & Poor's.

The town has held on to its Aaa bond rating from Moody's and AAA from Standard & Poor's since 2003 according to Town Manager Richard J. Johnson. A high rating helps a municipality secure lower interest rates when it sells bonds to finance capital projects. The ratings are the highest a town can achieve.

"It's always good when you feel good about it," said Johnson of the town's financial situation. "But it's also good when some other entity comes in that looks at communities all over the country and agrees with you."

In Standard & Poor's ratings summary, it noted the town's "very strong" budgetary flexibility with available fund reserves exceeding 14 percent of expenditures. It also noted its "strong financial performance" supported by reliable property taxes with little funding from state or federal government. It also noted the town's "strong management practices."

"The stable outlook reflects our view that the town's strong underlying economy, strong management practices and its predictable operating profile should translate to available reserves remaining strong," the report read. "We do not anticipate changing the rating during our two-year outlook horizon."

"It goes to the efforts of everyone over the years," Johnson said. "This is really something that is a testament to the ongoing activities of the town, its ongoing policies, ongoing budgeting and overall attention to detail that has occurred in Glastonbury over the decades. This is something we are very proud of and the community should be too."

Moody's report noted the town is expected to "maintain a satisfactory financial position given its history of structurally balanced operations and stable reserve levels."

"It's always a pleasure to have them come back and confirm what we believe," town councilman Whit C. Osgood said.

"Fantastic to have a second set of eyes tell us what we already know to be the case of how financially strong our town is," added councilman Lawrence Byar. "It directly results in lower costs for us and gives us the ability to borrow funds at the lowest possible rate."